Sword Art Online: Moonlight Swordman.

Ren followed the familiar path. Every step felt weighed down by tons of fear and exhaustion.

But he kept walking...each step heavy, sluggish, yet never stopping.

Filthy water trickled beneath his feet, and the cold from the stone walls seeped into his skin, but Ren didn't care. As long as he was still alive…

Never before had he appreciated moving through the sewers as much as he did now.

Even though he had once taken on a similar task.

The musty stench and the metallic tang of the sewer remained, but at least… there were no rotting corpses or swarms of flies like in that place…

…Just the memory alone was enough to make his stomach twist. Those thick, black currents of water, nauseating, the suffocating stench invading his lungs as if trying to poison his very soul.

The sewers in that other world… were revolting… but they weren't as terrifying as the faces that had betrayed him. At least here, there was only darkness and the sound of flowing water.

Ren slowly climbed out of the sewer opening.

The fresh air hit his raw, aching face, carrying the numbing chill of dawn. Every muscle in his face felt like it was bleeding, stinging sharply as the wind brushed past.

He collapsed onto his knees, his back against the icy wall. His lungs burned. His throat was parched. Everything hurt. But he still had to breathe.

The merciless night had passed. The fearful darkness fled, making way for the golden rays of dawn.

The morning light caressed Ren's trembling body. He shivered as the bone-deep cold continued to gnaw at him.

He was exhausted.

He wanted to lie down and sleep, a deep, dreamless slumber.

But every time he closed his eyes, the faces of those who had died in the dungeon resurfaced…

He had escaped the dungeon… but would he ever escape those horrifying memories?

Close his eyes, and the past returned. Open them, and painful reality awaited. There was no escape.

Then, Ren stood up and left the alley.

At dawn, the Town of Beginnings was peaceful.

Ren stopped in the center of the square.

He looked around, as if searching for something…

The chilling despair he had once felt in this place… had completely vanished… or rather… it was as if it had never existed.

No more empty stares, no more suffocating darkness… only peaceful smiles and carefree laughter.

"Damn it! I'll show him how well we can live!"

"Shall we go hunting? The monster fields outside are crowded, but relatively safe."

"You're all talk, as always."

Last night had been a sleepless one for many…

And Ren realized…

The laughter, the bright smiles echoing through the square… Their world was filled with light and hope.

He wanted that too…

They had found their will to keep living… while he...just breathing was painful.

Ren wondered… was he the only one still trapped in that dungeon?

He wanted to blend into the crowd, to smile like them… but his lips only trembled, unable to form words. That happiness was too distant… like another world he could never reach.

No matter the world… Am I not worthy of living with a smile? Ren gazed at the golden morning light reflecting off the hair of the lively young players. But he felt nothing but cold and emptiness.

He wandered forward.

Ren walked past the cheerful people, drifting through their lives like a ghost.

No one noticed his presence… or perhaps… they simply didn't want to see the darkness clinging to him.

His stiff, aching legs carried him to the outskirts of town.

A tall, thick stone wall stood before him.

Ren climbed onto the wall like a shadow.

His blue eyes stared down at the endless sky below.

Yes.

This was the edge of the town.

The Town of Beginnings was built at the southernmost rim of the first floor, where the floating castle met the mysterious void below.

On the first day, after the death announcement had ended…

He had seen a few people take their own lives by… throwing themselves into the sky below.

Did they find freedom, like birds soaring through the air? Ren wondered.

Like a lifeless corpse, Ren stood at the edge of the stone wall, where the world ended in an infinite abyss.

It felt as if one more step… and all the pain would disappear.

Ren wasn't afraid. Maybe because his heart had already died back then… when those despairing faces vanished from sight.

The sky below stretched infinitely, vast and serene. A perfect beauty that starkly contrasted with the deep agony inside him.

Freedom… yet why did he feel so suffocated?

The radiant morning light bathed everything in a golden glow, but it couldn't warm Ren's frozen heart.

Absolute silence. Only his ragged breathing and weary heartbeat filled the void. Ren felt as if he were fading into nothingness.

A gust of wind suddenly rose from below, tousling his messy hair. The sound of the wind, like the whispering call of the abyss.

Ren remembered those hollow eyes, those tear-streaked faces… and the wind that carried them away.

Did they find peace? Or did they simply vanish… as if they had never existed? Ren wondered.

Was there anyone else who had stood here, staring into this abyss, feeling the same way he did?

The feeling of belonging nowhere… of having no reason left to exist.

"If I just take… one more step." Ren mumbled as his foot inched forward.

He felt relief at the thought of ending it all. But his heart remained unbearably heavy… shackled by memories that refused to let him go.

One more step... and everything will end.

But why... were his legs trembling so much?

The cold wind blew again, like invisible hands pulling Ren forward. He staggered...

Ren bit his lips tightly. He had decided....he would jump...

But then.

Terrified screams, distorted faces flashed in his mind… clinging to him, refusing to let him go.

He heard someone's voice... faint and distant:

"Don't go..." But... who would need him anymore?

Ren froze.

His heart pounded, as if it had just touched a memory long buried.

A memory from so, so long ago.

A warmth...

It was as if someone was gently touching his arm. Soft and tender.

Ren looked down at his arm. There was nothing there. Yet... the sensation remained, so real it made his throat tighten.

He remembered his mother. He remembered her gentle hugs, her warm smile.

"When I'm no longer here... keep living with a smile on your face... promise me..."

The voice echoed in his mind, soft yet distant.

Ren felt his cheeks burning. What was this on his face?

"Water? Is it raining?" He wiped his cheeks.

His vision blurred.

Was he... crying?

Ren lifted his gaze to the endless sky.

Not a single cloud in sight. The morning sun shone brightly, pure and radiant.

A lump formed in his throat. His chest tightened, aching as though someone was gripping his heart.

Ren bit down hard on his lip. He couldn't make a sound. Only silent tears rolled down his burning cheeks.

His legs trembled. It felt as if the ground beneath him was disappearing.

... Yet that warmth on his arm remained, steady, holding him back from collapsing.

But... who else was there?

A faint voice echoed in his mind. Warm and gentle like the morning sun, whispering something he couldn't quite hear.

"Ren... this world, cruel as it is, still holds things worth living for."

Ren closed his eyes, trying to recall the face of that person. But everything was blurred… only the warmth of their hands on his arm remained, keeping him from falling into the abyss of despair.

Had he forgotten this person long ago?

Or... had he never wanted to remember?

Ren took a step back, away from the edge of the wall. His heart still pounded fiercely, and those invisible hands... were still there, holding onto him.

"If you don't want to rot away here like some useless fool..."

Tarek's mocking, taunting voice echoed in Ren's mind.

His hands clenched unconsciously...

In this darkness,

There is still a shining star.

Don't turn away, don't leave,

For you will find the light at the end of the road.

Courage is not the absence of fear,

But the strength to move forward despite it.

Believe in the small steps you take,

For each one brings you closer to where you need to be.

With every rain, the earth grows greener,

With every sorrow, the soul grows stronger.

Rise, even if the world turns away,

Because you are the flame, you are the light.

A sweet voice suddenly rang out from a distance.

Ren froze, turning to find the source of the song...

A crowd had gathered. The girl's voice carried far.

She was around Ren's age, with a slender frame. She wore a white hooded cloak over a simple deep red dress.

The hood couldn't fully hide her soft, milk-tea brown hair, neatly tied, complementing her gentle, beautiful face.

The sound of a stringed instrument accompanied her voice, each note tugging at the heart, filling it with an unexplainable strength.

Ren stared at the sky below him...

The morning sunlight bathed the drifting clouds in a golden glow.

"You're right, Tarek. I am useless... But you're also wrong..."

"Maybe... I will die... But not today."

Ren climbed down from the wall.

He turned toward the bustling crowd, where the girl remained the center of attention.

"Thank you." Ren bowed his head before walking away.

Back to the town.